Bruised
by baixblackbird
Summary: Abby's a druggie, Connor's a medical student. Polar opposites, but what happens when his care for people is put in the wrong person? / AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Before you read, I have some things to say.  
Okay, so, I'm obsessed with the song Tik Tok by KE$HA lately, so the beginning song may not fit in with the characters. xD BUT, I love it, so it's staying. And the parody of that song inspired me for this and my recent obsession with hospitals, as well. So, without my brother's rash, we would've never gone to the emergency room, and I would've never known how much I love hospitals, and I would've never been able to do this fan fiction, same with the Tik Tok parody. So, thank you brother, and the midnight beast, who you can find on youtube.  
Also, a big thanks to my friend Elizabeth.3 If not for her, I wouldn't be doing this fan fiction because I needed help with a lot of ideas for this, and she gave a lot of effort in helping me figure a lot of stuff out. So, not all the ideas in this fan fiction are here because of me. I am just writing down both out ideas. :D**

**Also, Primeval does NOT belong to me. I did not make Connor and Abby, or any of the other characters.  
It all belongs to BBC/ITV and the makers of the show.**

**CPOV: Connor's point of view.**

**APOV: Abby's point of view.**

* * *

CPOV.

_Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy  
Grab my glasses, I'm out the door ,  
I'm gonna hit this city.  
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack.  
Cause when I leave for the night, I ain't coming back.  
I'm talking - pedicure on our toes, toes .  
Trying on all our clothes, clothes.  
Boys blowing up our phones, phones.  
Drop-topping, playing our favorite cd's.  
Pulling up to the parties.  
Trying to get a little bit tipsy._

Music filled the flat, courtesy of my friend Duncan. Why he liked this music when he was just as geeky and nerdy as me was beyond my knowledge, but I was too focused on my school work to care. I had to go to the hospital tomorrow and work under my supervisor Nick Cutter, as he took care of patients, but nothing real serious, just people who came into the emergency room with small problems. I really wasn't interested in that kind of thing; just little things, but you had to start somewhere, right? And obviously, this is where I had to start. My two best friends and roommates Tom and Duncan were in college, but not majoring in anything. I decided I wanted to be a doctor the night I found out my mum was diagnosed with cancer. I know, how cliché, a person losing a parent because of cancer. I'm just one of the many people affected by the disease. Usually, when I meet new people and they ask about family, I just say my mum is on vacation, or left me and my father when I was a kid. Only Tom and Duncan know the truth since I knew them when she died, and they were there in the hospital the morning she passed. That was about six years ago, when I was eighteen years old. She got to see me graduate high school, before she fell ill. The doctors said six months to a year. She was gone in two. I decided to be a doctor who didn't lie, who didn't cheat, who told the patient and the patient's family how much time they had instead of making them think they have three times more life than they really did.

I heard the floor creak over by the stairs, and I looked over my shoulder since I was lying on my side, not facing the stairs, and I saw Tom standing there awkwardly. They were still a bit annoying near me even six years later and countless conversations about it. They still felt like she was in my thoughts every single second. I thought about her almost every night before I went to sleep. I was able to block her out most of the time, except nights. I remember when I was little, she would always put me to bed, and then when she left she went into the living room and turned on some 1940's music and started to hum to it while she did work such as folding clothes or cleaning the kitchen. Sometimes she'd just dance with herself around the living room. One night, I got out of bed and peeked out of my door, and I saw her dancing, twirling her pretty red dress she had put on. Her lips were masked over with vivid red lipstick, and her strawberry blonde hair she had taken out whirled around her as she spun. My father still has that dress hung up in their closet. It's exactly the same. He hadn't touched it. The last person to hang that dress up was her, and he wouldn't move out of that house because of that dress.

"Pizza downstairs… we're going to start watching Star Wars again… wanna come down?" Tom asked quietly, snapping me from my thoughts.

I looked back over at my work, and I still had a whole lot more to do for tomorrow. I sighed softly, looking back at Tom. "I really want to, but I have to finish. Start without me, I'll probably be done soon." He nodded, and then walked back downstairs, leaving me to my work. I looked down at the tons of papers and books on the side of the bed I wasn't laying on. I had so much stuff written down, and I lost track on the page I was reading. I quickly stuffed all my papers into the two books I had on the bed, dropped my pencil and got up and went downstairs to watch the movie with Duncan and Tom.

"Connor, CONNOR. Wake up! It's ten!"

Once I heard the time, I jumped up from the floor. But, since I got up too fast, I fell flat on my face. I groaned into the carpet, waiting a minute before I got up again. We all fell asleep in front of the television and I was supposed to at the hospital at eight. I was two hours late, and I didn't have much time to get ready. I got to the bathroom and brushed my teeth as I got dressed, throwing on a pair of black jeans, a t-shirt, then a vest over that, buttoning it up in the front. Then I topped it off with my gray hat and gloves, grabbed my books and was out the door.

After I took the bus to the hospital, it was already a quarter till eleven. I ran into the entrance and up to the front desk. "Uhm.. I'm one of Nick Cutter's students?"

The woman at the front desk looked at me for a second, probably taking in my messy appearance before looking down at a piece of paper and pointing me down a hall. I nodded and ran down the hallway, but then I bumped into someone and my books and papers were flown from my arms and now all over the hallway. I immediately got on my knees and started to pick up the papers. A man kneeled down next to me and helped me. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." I heard a Scottish accent say, and I knew from that moment who it was. I looked over, seeing Nick Cutter kneeled there, holding out my book. Stupidly, I smiled and took it, shoving the papers I gathered into the pages and standing the same time as he stood.

"I'm guessing you're Connor Temple." I nodded.

"Your coat is back there—" He pointed to the end of the hallway, and towards a room on the left. "Leave your books and such in there, then come back to the lobby and we'll get started." I did as he said and ran down to the room he told me and dropped my books on the table. I took off my jacket, and put on the white doctor coat, grabbed the clipboard I was guessing was mine and walked out and down the hallway to where he was standing against the desk. He looked over at me, and I could tell he was judging everything about me. His eyes rested on the hat on my head, which I slowly pushed down a bit on my head, showing him I wasn't taking it off. He got my point and he tilted his head to follow him as he walked down a hallway. "Today, we'll be on ER duty, but nothing serious. You'll be sitting in on the patients that come in, and you'll see how I handle it. Afterward, I'll discuss everything I did, and you will need to take notes."

So, from then on, I sat in on patients coming in with rashes, and unexplained symptoms which just turn out to be a cold or whatever. Cutter told me that even if you don't know what it is; always have some sort of back up thing it could be. I hated that. I wanted to tell the patient whether I knew what was wrong or not, but apparently, that's not what he believed in. So, I just wrote down whatever he told me, and before I knew it, it was four in the afternoon. I was going home in about three hours, and I couldn't wait. I was so exhausted from just watching people come in and out with nothing serious happening with them. Just a common cold here, a random rash caused by a switch in soap there. Really boring stuff.

* * *

APOV.

I sat against the toilet, taking in the affect the white magical powder gave me. Ever since my boyfriend, Steven Hart, introduced me to this substance, I couldn't get enough. On the toilet seat were five not so even lines of white powder cocaine. Next to the lines, were the razor and a rolled up fiver which we used to snort it in. The feeling was gone, and now I was riding high. The feeling you feel when it's almost your turn to do something exciting. Like sky diving, you're up and you're standing on the edge of the plane and you feel your heart pumping faster and faster, swelling big as you get nervous, but excited and adrenaline rushes through your veins. That's what it felt like before I snorted the coke, and now I felt the good part.

Steven snorted a line, and then leaned over to me, licking my lips before pressing them hard against mine, shoving his tongue in my mouth. I giggled softly as I wrapped my arms carelessly around his neck, and lifted one of my legs around his waist. His hands slid my legging up, almost ripping it. "How do ya feel, baby?"

"Fucking fantastic." I slurred as I pulled my lips away from his own and taking a drink of the bottle of vodka that was next to me on the floor. This lifestyle was definitely for me. Partying, doing drugs that made you feel like you were on cloud nine, having sex, and just having fun. I loved all of it. My dead mother didn't get to see me sober up before she croaked a year and a half ago, and my brother Jack disowned me as a sister a few months afterward. No daddy in my life. He left when he found out my mum was pregnant with me. I was the mistake in the family. I didn't care as long as I had vodka and pain killers, then everything would be numb and I wouldn't feel pain. Most people told me that I was a heartless bitch, but I beg to differ. I'm twenty-two and I deserve to have some fun. All those people who are around my age and in college are idiots. I mean, why would anyone even want to be anything that involves more years of worthless school?

Steven was getting more feelzy than I wanted to go right now. All I wanted was some more drinks, so I pushed him off, which he didn't mind. He just went back to do some more lines while I got up, fixed my skirt then walked out of the bathroom and shut the door. The party was at my friends flat, and there were tons of people here. Colorful lights strobed all over the place and I think one guy had a seizure, but I didn't care enough to even think about it more than a second or two. I grabbed a bottle of beer from a table and started to drink from it, still walking through the flat trying to find that one girl I got my vicodin off of. She said she had some other pills that'd make me numb and I couldn't resist. Finally, I found her sucking tongue with a guy with a Mohawk. I pulled her from her braid and she stumbled over to the railing.

"Cough up the pills." I said, stuffing some money into her pocket. She grabbed the money out and counted, then reached into her other pocket and pulled out a small baggie of several multi-colored pills. I snatched them away from her hands and walked away; looking down at them and picking out three that I wanted to take first. The other three I would give to Steven, then the last two I would take back to his house, and when he was gone, I'd take them by myself.

I got back into the bathroom where I saw Steven passed out of the floor. Rolling my eyes, I slammed the door and locked it, then climbed into the tub, put the three pills on my tongue and washed them down with a huge swig of vodka. While I was waiting for the pills to take effect, I looked down at Steven. I met him a few months before my mom died, and he showed me all of this. He showed me just how amazing drugs can make you feel, and how all this jibber jab about how they're bad for you is nonsense. My mother tried to send me to get sober, but I was twenty and it was out of her jurisdiction. It wasn't her duty to make my choices for me. That ship was sailed.

I felt myself going light headed, finally a sign that the pills were working, then I felt myself being dragged into darkness, and then nothing. I was completely blacked out. The last thing I remember was grabbing the sides of the tub and biting my lip. Then… I was just not there anymore.

I opened my eyes to a blinding white, my whole body feeling numb. Tip of the toes, to the top of my head. This was it.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I just wanted to say thank you for favouriting and reviewing this story. I'm working really hard on it, because I got a lot of the future of this planned out. I think you guys will love what I'm going to do with this. Anyways, I don't want to give anything away, so I'm going to end this. Big thanks to Elizabeth, again, for beta-ing it. :D**

* * *

When we got a call about a woman that would be coming in, everything got a bit more exciting. Cutter got the call and he talked to me, saying this was serious. I told him it was perfectly fine with me, because I'd been waiting for this to happen all night, and then he looked at me for a long period of time, then told me this girl could die. He told me she was my age, and she had taken tons of pills and overdosed. He told me that I might want to go home. I thought about it for a moment, thinking about how I saw the life taken away from my mum. I thought if I really wanted to see what that was like again. To be in the presence of a living, breathing person, then just… not. I decided I wanted to stay, and he hesitated, and I could see he wanted to send me home, but I saw something in his eyes, which made me feel a hundred percent better. I saw faith. He had faith in me that I wouldn't… not be able to handle this, because as his student, he knew my past. It's something they make sure they know in case I break down or have a panic attack. It was six years ago, I think I'll be fine.

Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, the paramedics burst through the emergency room doors and I immediately was running the halls with Cutter, and several nurses, and the paramedics. I got a good look at the girl on the gurney. Eyeliner was smudged all around her eyes, and her hair was blonde and short. She was wearing a plaid skirt, and lose shirt with a tank top under it. For some reason, I scanned over every part of her. I saw her fingernails painted with bright orange, which I had to smile at. Neon colored nails making me smile? Who knew.

Her eyes slowly opened, and I saw her vivid blue eyes frantically looking around and she was gasping for air, but they put an oxygen mask on her, so she should be alright until we got into the hospital room, which we entered just as I thought that. I stood by in the corner, watching nurses and Cutter try and get her breathing. My mum's death was nothing like this. It was slow, and she all of a sudden stopped breathing, and the heart rate monitor just went into a long beep. I was snapped from my thoughts when Cutter pulled me over to the other side of the bed. I realized I had been sitting there, not paying attention, and now she was stable.

"Stay here and watch over her. I have to go see to her boyfriend." I furrowed my brows at that, and he nodded at me, confirming my thoughts. So, she and her boyfriend overdosed. I sighed softly, watching him run out, leaving me alone with the girl in the room. When I looked over at her, I could see she was unconscious again. I glanced over at the heart monitor, seeing her steady heart beat. That sound was like music to my ears. I would never forget the sound of a heart monitor in all my life. Slowly, I got closer to the bed, looking down at her while she was passed out. As I was scanning her, something caught my eye on her right arm and I gently turned it over, seeing marks on her wrist. I shifted my eyes back to her face, then back to the scars. As I scanned her arm up, at the crook of her elbow, I saw multiple needle pricks. The IV was on the other arm, and I know these nurses wouldn't miss that many times, and they certainly didn't look like they were just done. This girl was heavy on partying. Heroin? I know she overdosed on prescription meds, and there's tons of alcohol in her system. Cocaine found in the place where she was. This girl really was not on the right path of life.

I saw her eyes opening, and I quickly released my hold on her arm. She blinked a few times, then looked over at me, furrowing her eyebrows at me. "Is this hell?"

I shifted my eyes back and forth. "Well, technically it's London, but… you know, it's an easy mistake to make."

A sigh escaped her lips as he brought her hand up to her head, which I guessed was a little gesture saying that her head hurt really badly. "Well… it's kind of common to have a headache after you just overdosed." I looked at her arm, remembering the scars I just saw, then looking back at her face.

"Shut up, you know nothing about me." She snapped.

I looked around, taken aback a bit by what she said. "I didn't say anything."

"No, but I see you judging me. You know nothing about me. Standing there with your cute little doctor coat. I know exactly what kind of guy you are. Your parents are rich and you were paid into college. You know nothing about the real world and how cruel it can actually be. Being a doctor? Why is that—" She squinted at my coat. "Temple? Connor Temple? Even your name says you're an idiot. You want to save people? Is that what you answer to everyone when they ask you why you choose to be what you are? Save people, my ass. You just like to feel good about yourself because your life sucks, but having dying people all around you makes you feel more alive, does it? More lucky than you actually are?"

"I just like to feel good about myself? What about you, taking drugs to make yourself numb. What does that say about you?"

Before she could argue more, someone knocked on the door, and I saw it was Cutter. I sighed, walking away from the bed and over to the door. He pulled me out and looked at me for a minute, which made me confused. "Her boyfriend, Stephen Hart. He overdosed exactly the same way she did. But we have sources that say he was left there for too long, and he was already dead when he was brought in." Even though how badly I wanted to go in and argue with that girl some more about how she was wrong about me, I did feel sorry after I heard that her boyfriend had died. "I want you to tell her." Cutter said in a serious tone of voice. I looked up into his eyes, and for a second I was going to decline, but I knew in this line of work, you would need to deliver this news a lot to people. That their loved ones had passed. I nodded solemnly and walked back into the room, where I saw the girl sitting up now.

I grabbed the clipboard at the end of the bed, glancing at the name and putting it back. Abby Maitland, I read.

"Abby… uhm… your boyfriend, Stephen Hart was brought here as well, due to an overdose."

Her face went blank as she heard me say this, and she leaned up a bit, waiting for me speak again. I didn't see any kind of emotion in her eyes. Just… nothing. Wouldn't she be worried, or be asking me frantic questions about him? I took a moment to wait if she was going to say anything, and when she didn't, I continued. "He... didn't make it."

I saw her take a deep breath in, and then the evil came out. She ripped the IV out of her arm, and unhooked herself from every machine they had her hooked up to, then ran up to me and tackled me to the ground. "YOU PEOPLE MURDERED HIM! He couldn't have died, you people did something to him!" She started throwing punchs at every inch of me she could get to, but I caught her wrists to hold her off for a bit until someone finally realized what was happening. Finally, Cutter barged in with a few nurses and pulled her off me. I laid there after they pulled her off me, then propped myself up on my elbows and watched then struggle to keep her from coming back and attacking me again. She pushed them off her and walked over towards the door.

"If I leave, will I die?" Her voice was threatening, like if Cutter said yes, then she'd just leave anyway.

Cutter looked her, then over at the nurses, then shifted his eyes back to her and shook his head. "No, but it's suggested you—" He was cut off as she opened the door and slammed it shut.

Cutter looked back at me, shook his head, and left. I was confused at that point. Was he disappointed in something I did? I started to think about every Abby had said to me about wanting to make myself feel good because my life sucked. Maybe it's true. I mean… I had great friends, and a great father, or… at least he was before he got all depressed about my mum. I don't blame him, though. They were very much in love. My life sucked then, but.. I don't believe it was that bad now. I was moving on, and maybe Abby needed to grow up soon or else her next trip to the hospital might not be as smooth as this one went. One day, she'll be between life and death, and she'll regret everything she has done.

Slowly, I got up from the floor and walked out of the hospital room and headed towards the room where my stuff was. I slipped the doctor coat off, flung it onto a chair, put my coat back on, grabbed my books and left the hospital and got on the bus. I didn't want to head home just yet even though it was almost seven. Instead, I got off at my college and went in, going straight to the head principles office and bursting in. In his office were a few students and a teacher all sitting in front of his desk. The students I knew, and they all looked at me a little weird and confused about what I was doing here.

"I'm done. I'm dropping every class, and I'm not coming back." I said point blank, walked out, slammed the door and got back on the bus and headed home to the flat.

On the ride back home, I looked out the window seeing everything pass me by. I closed my eyes, and let tears roll down my face.

What was I doing?

* * *

APOV:

I ran out of the hospital, tears streaming down my face. I could choose to break down right then and there and let the pain swallow me alive, or I could pop a few pills, have a few drinks and numb it all up. As I looked around at all the people walking past me and seeing me cry, I felt like they were judging me, just as that Temple guy judged me in there. I took a deep breath, and after calling a taxi, I drove off and headed back towards Stephen's flat.

Stephen… I didn't love him as much as I thought I did. I always cared for him, but our relationship was made up of drugs and drinking and sex. That was all we revolved around, and having him taken away from me kind of made me want to sober up and get back on track, but… it wasn't that strong of a push. It wasn't that much of a loss to snap me back into reality.

Soon enough, the taxi was outside the flat and I threw him a few bills and got out, slamming the door. The taxi drove off, leaving me standing there in the street in the dark. It took a minute or two for me to walk up the door, take out the key, shove it in the lock and unlock it. I stepped inside, slammed the door and ran up the stairs. Everything was as we left it when we went to my friends flat for that party. Alcohol and vodka bottles were strewn all over the floor couch, chairs, tables, and the kitchen counters. Packets of cigarettes were stacked up in the glass table, along with a package of lighters. Slowly, I took off my jacket and let it fall to the floor. I took a step towards the chair, leaning against it just to stay standing. I felt like everything was ripped from me. I know I didn't love Stephen as much as I thought I did, but… he was what I felt comfortable around. I was with him for a long time now. Now, because our lifestyle, he wasn't here anymore.

With that thought in mind, I darted to the kitchen counter, opening the cabinet and knocking down several bottles of pills, until I found one familiar one. I popped the lid off, spilled out four pills in my hand and swallowed them dry, sighing afterward. Soon enough all this hurt, and pain would soon be gone and I would be numb and happy again.

Instead of the pain killers I thought I had just taken, I was feeling sleepy and disoriented. There's no way four pills can give me an overdose. I ran to the stairs and up to me and Stephens room and just started to smash every single in sight. Anything glass was now shattered into millions of pieces of the hard wood floor. I pulled all the door out of the desk and slammed them on the bed and started to rip up every single prescription paper we got from a doctor. Every single one of those was fake. Instead of taking them out individually, I flipped the drawers upside down, throwing them on the floor when all the items in them were dumped and scattered all over the place. Tears ran down my face, and I could feel my eyes shutting. This wasn't fair. What the fuck did I ever do to life except live it?

Now, as I looked around the room, it was a mess.

I walked across the room, feeling glass poking my feet and some cutting it. Blood dripped on the papers, on the rug, anything I stepped on. I walked over to a chair in the corner of the room and sat down. Maybe I did deserve to die along with Stephen. Maybe I was supposed to die in place of Stephen. I'm sure he could've cleaned up his life and lived, me on the other hand; I didn't deserve to live, and breathe, and go on with this kind of live when he died. His life was cut short. I'm sure if he hadn't have met me, and done all this shit with me, he would've stopped a long time ago, and all this would've never fucking happened. I shut my eyes, and vowed when I woke up I would take my own life, because I didn't want this and I knew I couldn't stop it. If I didn't go now… I would end up dying as Stephen.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: This chapter is all in Connor POV, but don't take this for granted. Enjoy this all Connor chapter, because you never know what'll happen.

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"You sure you don't want to go back and talk about getting back in?" I heard Tom ask as he and Duncan were walking out the door. I waved my hand, not saying a word. I heard a sigh, and then the door slam shut. Honestly, I didn't know what I was going to do now. I had put everything I had into medical school. All my time, money, even my heart was put into becoming a doctor. Now I threw it away. I hadn't told my father yet, but I didn't want to right away. I just quit last night, and I knew he'd disown me as a son. He wanted better for me, and I was finally on the right track of accomplishing that. Now here I sat, on the couch in front of the telly; jobless. I didn't know what I would do now. I just threw away three years of my life on something I wasn't even going to pursue. I had no idea what possessed me to do that; to give up on becoming a doctor, but I think it had something to do with that girl at the hospital. Abby, I remember her name was. I didn't know what she did to make me do this, but she definitely did something.

I don't think it was the fact that there would be patients like her, or that I'd have to tell someone that a loved one had died. I hadn't been to sleep all night. Instead, I sat exactly where I was now, trying to figure out what it was. I had no sense of direction now. No idea what to do. I couldn't stay in my mate's flat forever, I needed a job and I needed my own place. A job was all I could get now. Forget about a career. I was not going to go back to college to waste another few years on something I'm not good at, nor will go through with. Although, I did know I was in a better position than that girl. She would waste some more years of her life on drugs, then one day she'll overdose again. If she lives, maybe, just maybe it'll clear her mind up and make her see she could really die from what she was going. If she died, then she died and she had no more chances to clean up her life. I was thankful I never gave in and did any of the things she did. I didn't really know her, but I do know what was in her system; it was on the clipboard at the bottom of the bed. At least I had more of a chance. To be honest, yeah, I felt a bit bad for the girl. But she decided to do this to herself and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

For a minute or two, I stared at my phone on the table in front of me. What could I do now? I didn't know what my next move should be. I only ever saw my life being as a doctor, and now was the time that I needed to decide what I should do. This was probably one of the biggest decisions I've had to make, behind one choice. I could have chosen to give up with my mum had passed. I was devastated, and I could've given up on life. Or, I could've kept going. I could go through life without her, and just do that best I could. That is what I chose, and now was the only time I was actually second guessing my choice. I felt like I was disappointing her and my father, even if he didn't know yet.

Lazily, I stood up from the couch and made my way over to the kitchen, pouring myself some more tea. I suppose today I could just take a walk around London for a while. I thought that was the best way of clearing my mind. I decided to do so, and I quickly got ready. After throwing on my hat, I walked out of the flat and locked the door.

The day outside was gloomy, raining typical London weather. There were people running the streets, and driving to work and dropping their children off at school or going out for breakfast. Me, on the other hand, I was walking around looking for an answer for my problems. As I looked around, I wondered what I could do instead of being a doctor. A vampire slayer! Buffy sure made it look easy. But it wasn't easy, seeing as there was no such thing as vampires… or Buffy. Too bad, too. I could be a crime fighter! Maybe not. I could be like in Scooby-doo and fight ghosts and evil and such. I shook my head mentally, scratching out that idea.

I let out another deep sigh. This was going to be impossible. Suddenly, a loud shattering noise brought my attention back to the world, and I heard people screaming. My brows pulled together in confusion as I saw people around me looking up at something. I turned back around, looking up at the Tower of London Bridge. I let my eyes scan over it for a moment, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, till my eyes ran over one window that was broken. Immediately, I paused and squinted, seeing someone climbing to the edge of the window pane.

"What the hell's that?" I asked, looking over at someone who had stepped next to me, then back up at the bridge.

Before the man could reply to my question, I recognized the person trying to get to the edge. "Oh my God." I said, realizing what was going on. I broke stride, sprinting toward the tower. I made it onto the bridge and inside the tower, running up the stairs. Finally, I got up the one of the halls that connected the two towers. I saw the broke window, and the girl trying to jump out. I ran over to it, immediately leaning over all the metal cars. Then she jumped.

"No!" I screamed, reaching out in an attempt to catch her. As fate would have it, I was able to catch her right by her wrist. "Abby!" I yelled, looking down at her. I saw her look up. Her blue eyes were red and puffy, eyeliner running down her face. I exhaled with relief, but then I realized that she was slipping.

"No!" I repeated, grabbing her wrist with both hands, trying to keep her up. "I'm pulling you over, Connor!" I heard her yell out. I shook my head, looking back to see if anyone was behind me. No one was there. The first thing I could think of was to just keep myself from falling over but to bring her up. I wrapped one of my legs around the bar of the railing, and pulled myself up; pulling her up as well.

Her sobs were what really made me give myself the extra push to save her. I didn't have time to think about her trying to take a swan dive off the tower of London, or think about if this was the right thing to do; if saving her was the wise thing to do in this situation, but I couldn't just let her throw her life away. That wasn't the answer; it was never the answer. My heard pounded against my ribs as I pulled her up an inch at a time. If I let go, or gave up, then she and I would both die and it'd be my fault.

"You know, if I can't pull you up," I blurted out, "there's a saying that says, if you regret committing suicide between the bridge and the river, then you won't go to hell." I saw her look up at me, and everything suddenly got very quiet, like her and I were just in a bubble. I couldn't read her expression, or guess what she was thinking, but I could see she was starting to regret what she did. Then she broke the silence. "Don't fucking let me go." Her voice was calm, and she wasn't yelling now, even though she just cursed at me. Everything seemed a lot less hectic, and that allowed me to focus on pulling her up, which I went back to. I tightened my grasp on her arm and pulled as hard as I could, finally getting her up on the bars. Quickly, I grabbed her waist and pulled her through, causing me to fall back against the railing.

I let go of her, leaning against the railing and trying to catch my breath. "What were you thinking?" I asked, looking over at her. I saw police starting to put her in handcuffs. "No, no, no, no." I said quickly, walking over to them and grabbing Abby's arm.

"Excuse me sir," One of the police officers said, pushing me away from Abby, causing me to stumble backward. "This woman just tried to commit suicide off the tower bridge. She's being arrested."

"What? No! If anything she should be taken to the hospital!" They both turned around, looking at me with anger glares. One of the officers sighed and unlocked the handcuffs, then pushed Abby to me. I caught her from falling, then watched them walk away shaking their heads. I smiled lightly, looking down at Abby in my arms. She then pushed herself away from me, trying to catch her balance. I furrowed my brow and looked up at her, waiting for her to scream at me for saving her life. Instead, I saw her face soften, but before that, I saw something ignite in her eyes, which confused me for a moment, and scared me at the same time.

"Take me to the hospital," she said quietly.

For a moment, I just stood there confused for a moment. I nodded, and walked with her down the hall and into the tower. Once we were outside, I saw mostly everyone staring at her and me. I'm sure they saw the whole thing play out from the ground. I still didn't like Abby that much after I met her in the hospital, but I was willing to help her out. Everyone deserved a second chance, didn't they? After I hailed a cab, I helped Abby in, then sliding in beside her. The ride to the hospital was unbarring, and I felt like I should say something to her; something that could make her feel better. I didn't know what had happened before she decided to jump off the bridge, but I knew it was rude to ask.

Soon enough, we pulled up to St. Thomas's Hospital. Abby got out of the car, followed by me after paying the driver. I looked around, taking in the air as I glanced over at the London Eye. I'd only gone in there once before. "Every time I got the chance, I'd go up there, and I was always terrified that it'd fall over into the water. I've had a problem with Ferris wheels of all types since…" I looked back over at Abby, who looked at me with an expression assuring me she didn't care. I let out a soft sigh, nodded, and started to walk up to the hospital.

We walked in through the emergency room, and I told the woman behind the desk what had happened. She nodded and gave us both wristbands, indicating who we were. She led us back into a room to wait for the doctor.

Abby carefully lifted herself up onto the bed and swung her legs as she tapped her fingertips together. Finally, after about ten minutes, the door opened and a woman came in holding a clipboard. "Abby Maitland… looks like you took a bit of a knock while trying to throw yourself off the bridge." I snorted, causing both of them to look at me. I opened my mouth to apologize, but the doctor turned her attention back to Abby. I snorted, because of the way the doctor said that. Abby just nearly killed herself, and that's how the doctor puts it.

"I can give you a prescription for depression, that's about it, though." Suddenly, I realized why Abby was all right with coming to the hospital. I saw her nod, and then the doctor walked out after excusing herself to write it up.

Instantly, I started to accuse her. "You only came to get pills?" She looked up at me, then down at her hands, not answering. I sighed softly, seeing that nothing had changed her mind about her lifestyle.

When I looked back up, I saw a woman through the window, standing against a desk. I recognized her to be Cutter's wife. I furrowed my brows, seeing that her eyes were fixated on Abby. This caused my mind to reel with questions. She wasn't just glancing at her one moment and then talking to someone else a moment after. She was actually staring at Abby with a sort of glare. I shrugged it off as I heard the door open and I saw Cutter there.

I straightened up from leaning against the wall, seeing that he was looking at me.

"You quit college," he stated. I saw Abby look up at me confused, but I didn't look down at her, I just kept my eyes locked on Cutter. After I sighed deeply, I nodded. "I did," I responded.

He shook his head. "Why?"

I shifted my weight back and forth between both my feet, not knowing what to say. The reason I did leave college, was because before Abby came to the hospital, I thought becoming a doctor would help me cope with things, specifically my mother. But I realized after I met her, all it would do is remind me of my mum's death.

"I realized I couldn't handle it," I lied. Partly.

He nodded, looking completely disappointed in me. He was only my supervisor for one day, what right did he have to judge me on my decision? Nothing else was said before he exited the room and slamming the door right behind him. Before Abby or I could say anything else, the door opened again and the doctor came in with a piece of paper, handing it to Abby.

I didn't stay there any longer than I needed to, and I then walked out of the room while they were talking.

I was out of that hospital in an instant, now standing outside in the frigid air. The wind whipped across my face, causing it to go numb is some places. I crossed my arms across my chest as an attempt to get warm, failing miserably. "Connor!" I heard Abby call my name, and I turned around, seeing her walking toward me after just coming out of the hospital. Not caring what she had to say, I turned back around and averted my eyes to the ground.

Once she was standing next to me, she began to speak. "I didn't come here just for the pills…" she trailed off, while I said nothing. Minutes past of silence, which she broke once again like she had done back at the tower. "Can I come back to your house?" She took me by surprise, causing me to lift my head up and look over at her with a confused expression.

"If I go back to my place, I'll just…" She shifted her eyes away from me. I knew what she was going to say, and that made me feel sympathetic for her. I couldn't let her go back to her own flat or home, or whatever, because she'd just so something she'd regret, which would end up in another 'Tower of London' incident. And I wouldn't be there, and she wouldn't be so lucky.

One corner of my lip turned up into a half smile, and I nodded. "You can come back to my flat for a while."

Her face lit up just a bit, which made me feel a bit better. I could be saving a life right now. I could be convincing her that drugs and alcohol were not answers to life's problems. After hailing a cab, she and I went back to me, Tom, and Duncan's flat. I was relieved to see that they weren't home from their classes yet, which was a mighty fine thing seeing as I didn't want to have to explain everything to them and kick them out of the flat.

I locked the door, turning back around to see Abby walking through the room and looking at all the stuff we had up on the walls and things on tables and desks. I heard her giggle and hold up a Star Wars DVD, which she quickly dropped back down on the table.

"So…" She said, turning back around quickly, with a malicious looking grin on her face. "Wanna go to a party?"


	4. Chapter 4

**CPOV**

Agreeing to go to the party with her was simply for the fact that I knew that she would do something stupid if I didn't, and my care for people took over. If I could save someone by just standing by them, then that was fine. I'd save a life, and that'd be satisfying and all worth it in the end.

We had taken a cab to her friend's flat, and when we walked in, I felt instant regret for coming here. The flat was packed with people, and there was no clean air, it was all filled with smoke. The music that played was turned up all the way, and I had to resist from covering my ears as I walked behind Abby. Everyone I passed either had a cigarette, beer can, or both in their hands while they jumped up and down to the music.

Staying close to Abby, I followed her until she led me into a bathroom and slammed the door shut. I looked around at the small room, and then turned back to her in confusion. If she was just going to distance herself from everyone, then why did she even come? It would've been much easier to just stay at my flat and hang.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get us a few drinks," she said quickly, not giving me a chance to reply before she ran out and shut the door.

Sighing deeply, I turned back around to the bathroom, tilting my head to the side a bit as I decided to climb in the bathtub and sitting there, with my legs pulled up to my chest. I closed my eyes and listened to the beat of the music, also hearing everyone jumping to it. For some reason, it calmed me and I let myself get a little loose. I stretched out my legs, tilting my head back against the wall. All was peaceful until I heard the door burst open, which made me look up quickly.

Abby had two drinks in her hand. Correct that, she had two red, plastic cups, filled, I'm sure, with some alcohol beverage. Her other hand was balled up into a fist, which caused me to look at her face as she slammed the door shut again and locked it. Her hand still balled into a fist, she handed me one plastic cup, which I took without question. She then walked the two feet from the tub to the bathroom toilet and sneakily shoved whatever was in her fist into her pocket as she took a sip of her drink and looked at me.

I looked down at the drink, swirling it around in the cup before taking a huge swig, hoping to just get it over with.

Wincing afterward, I decided to drink all of it at once, hearing several giggles from next to me, of course coming from none other than Abby. Once all the drink was gone, I crumpled up the cup and threw it over in the small trash bin that was next to the door.

"Are you _sure_ you weren't an alcoholic in a past life?" She giggled.

"I'm sure." I glared over to her.

I couldn't deny she was a beautiful girl, but this life she was leading made her even less attractive. Maybe she did this because she wanted someone to save her. But her first intention had gone way too far, and now she was addicted to all of this.

I wasn't going to lie; my heart was soft for her. People don't expect that one time can turn into a lifetime, or rather, death. You do it once, you do it again. It's not only a one time deal. As many put it, it's like having a potato chip. You cannot have just one. Although, I never really liked potato chips… but tea would work. You can't just have one cup. You also don't see little girls having tea parties in rehab. Women in clubs, though… it's a different story.

"So…," she said, hearing her shuffle with a few things, but I didn't bother to look. "Why did you quit?"

Why did I quit college, that is. Four people had asked me this. Only four. Tom, Duncan, Cutter, and now Abby. I hadn't yet told my father, but I knew I had to. I knew it wasn't something I could avoid, but I felt like I was letting him down. I was ashamed that I couldn't keep going. I was weak.

"I dunno," I lied.

I shifted my eyes over to look at her, and she nodded, looking down at her hands.

Fifteen minutes passed, and I felt myself getting dizzy. Something had clicked in my head and I wasn't quite right. Something in me believed maybe I was getting light-headed because of all the smoke from outside the bathroom leaking in through the bottom of the doorway. I couldn't even open my eyes all the way.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt fantastic.

Laughs erupted out of me randomly as I looked over at Abby who was now sitting in front of the tub. Her flat expression turned into amusement and we were there, laughing for ten straight minutes. I couldn't even explain how I felt.

"You look happy," she slurred, taking a swig out of her drink.

I nodded, leaning my head against the wall behind me. I lifted my head back down as I felt Abby get in, straddling my legs as she placed several baggies of multi-colored pills in front of her, on the little amount of leg space I had left.

Furrowing my brows, I looked up to her from the pills. "What you doin'?" I asked softly.

She looked up from the baggies after grabbing two pink pills from one and holding them out on her palm in front of her toward me. Instantly, I shook my head, refusing.

"C'mon," she said seductively, moving up on me; still straddling. Then she was close to me, and her hand was still held out.

I paused, realizing what she had just done. This feeling couldn't just come out of nowhere, she had drugged me. "No," I said firmly, then I saw anger fill her eyes and she dropped the pills. Everything became silent, and the only sound I heard were the little two pink pills hitting the tub.

Her hands shot up, and around my neck; strangling me and cutting off my air. I struggled underneath her, pulling my hands up to grasp her wrists and try to pull them away, but whatever she gave me was making me tired, and I couldn't control my own body right. I gasped for air, looking right into her eyes and she was looking right back at me. Black spots were appearing in my vision, but I still tried to fight her off.

Her grasp grew tighter, and I let my arms fall to the side and I closed my eyes, finally feeling myself slip away.

---

**APOV**

My hands were still grasped around Connor's neck and I instantly sobered up the moment I felt him go limp.

My whole body was shaking, and I couldn't pry my hands away from him. Finally, I was broken from the daze and I leaned in to put my ear next to his nose. He wasn't breathing. I exhaled quickly, pulling back from him. I pulled my hands from his neck and lifted my right hand to press against his chest. I couldn't feel his heart beating.

I wasted no time in getting out of the tub and running out of the bathroom. Before I had gotten out of the door, I heard screaming. I turned back around, seeing people in the bathroom, looking down at Connor's lifeless body.

"Everyone! Get out! Someone call an ambulance first! C'mon! Book it!"

Then, a herd of people stumbled out of the door, pushing my along with them. The night was freezing, and gloomy, but people wasted no time in running, including me. I ran straight to the alley across the street from the building and I kneeled down, leaning against the break wall as I watched a flood of people still coming out.

Then, silence.

Until sirens filled the night air. An ambulance stopped right in front of the building and I only saw two paramedics; two women burst out with a gurney and they ran into the building.

It felt like hours passed, but it had only been seconds. Tears cascaded down my cheeks, my eyes wide with fear of what I had just done. Some hope still lurked inside of me that maybe he had just been passed out, or blacked out and that I was paranoid and made myself believe he wasn't breathing.

I watched from the alley, my heart beating in my chest, then, after several agonizing minutes, the paramedics walked… body bag on the gurney.

I had murdered Connor Temple.

I attempted to breathe in, but I felt like I was being suffocated. I watched the paramedics put the gurney, with Connor on it, in the ambulance and they drove off. It was too dark, and I couldn't see their faces, but they didn't look like they were affected by it at all. Me, on the other hand, I was a broken mess right now.

Closing my eyes, all I saw was his face.

It was then that I ran from the alley and down the roads. The cold air whipped across my face, tears falling from my eyes rapidly. My breath was visible in the air as I ran, and my feet made practically no sound.

I bursted into mine and Steven's flat, slamming the door behind me as I ran up the stairs into the main room. My heart wouldn't stop pounding as I paced the living room. I had just killed someone. A human being. He was looking straight at me while I was strangling him. He felt his life slipping away, and all I was doing is fucking getting angry about him refusing my drugs.

My stomach ached.

My heart hurt.

My body felt weak.

I fell to my knees, leaning up and leaning my forehead on the floor, I screamed as loud as I could. The pain had taken over me, and I let it out. Pounding the floor with my fist, and rolling over onto my back, covering my face with my hands.

It wasn't fair. Between the two of us to die, he had to. He did nothing wrong. I had lived a life of drugs and sex and drugs and not giving a shit about other people and what they wanted. He was a good person. He wanted to help me, and look what I did. I fucking murdered him. I murdered a man.

"Why..," I sobbed, kicking my legs at nothing.

-x-

"Abby?"

Slowly, I opened my eyes, feeling my body ache, but as I looked next to me, I saw one very familiar face. As I realized what had happened, I shot up and threw my arms around him. "Jack." I instantly started to cry, my arms tightening around my brother. I hadn't seen him in a year or so.

"There's a murder on the news. It was around here, and I wanted to make sure you were all right."

My heart shattered even more, if that was possible, when he said he had heard about the murder. I could never tell him I committed it. He'd never speak to me again. Ever. He'd probably throw me in the brig himself, if he knew what I had done to Connor. I had killed him because I was too fucking high off pills.

"I don't want to do this anymore, Jack. Please, please help me."

I whimpered into his shoulder, clinging to him. I couldn't hold myself. I felt my life had just crumbled down.

Over the time of a few hours, Jack had pulled me up from the ground and got me into the shower. He fed me, and he went through the whole flat and threw away every single drug he found. Every single bottle of alcohol was smashed in the sink and all the substance ran down the drain, and the shards of the bottle were thrown away, as well. He had helped clean up what was now my room. All the glass, papers, and drawers were put back, and whatever Jack thought I didn't need, he trashed.

I was grateful for my brother helping me, after how I have treated him in the past. I didn't even know that much about him anymore. Did he have a girlfriend? What job did he have? Remorse filled my entire being.

Connor never left my mind.

His face was still fresh in my mind, and the feel of his neck in my hands. His voice… it was torture. I kept hearing him everywhere.

"_Connor Temple, age twenty four, was found dead last night in a London flat. His father as confirmed his son's body, and the funeral is set within the next week. There were drugs found in his system; a possible overdose."_

I swirled around to the television, seeing a huge picture of Connor on the screen. They had to use the worst picture of him. I don't mean, because it was a bad photo. He was smiling, more laughing than anything, and he was with two other guys, who I assumed to be his friends, but my eyes were just on him. There was so much life in his eyes. He was alive there, and he was thinking nothing could ever go wrong… and now he was dead.

Overdose. They're saying he killed himself.

I lifted my hand to my stomach, my vision blurring with tears as I ran from the room and into the bathroom. I slid on my knees to the toilet as I got sick, throwing up anything that was in my stomach. I cried as I leaned over the toilet, then I felt Jack's hand rub my back.

"It's just the withdrawal. You'll be alright."

If only he knew. If only he knew that Connor's death was my fault.

If. Fucking. Only.

---

**A/N:** Hey, I told you in the last chapter, you didn't know what would happen! I hope you guys didn't take that all Connor chapter for granted! That's all I can say for right now without giving anything away. Don't be angry at me! Also! I do not hate Andrew-Lee Potts. xD My friend Elizabeth says my readers probably think so since this happened with Connor, and Hatter, although, I didn't kill Hatter. o.e Anywho, review and favourite! Thank yous!


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